CD-ROM Appendix A, which is a part of the present disclosure, is a CD-ROM appendix that includes a software program executable on a controller as described below. The total number of compact disks including duplicates is two. Appendix B, which is part of the present specification, contains a list of the files contained on the compact disk. The attached CD-ROM Appendix A id formatted for an IBM-PC operating a Window operating system.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
These and other embodiments are further discussed below.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk drive and, in particular, to a tracking and focus servo system with a media type boundary crossing detector.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The need for compact data storage is explosively increasing. The explosive increase in demand is fueled by the growth of multimedia systems utilizing text, video, and audio information. Furthermore, there is a large demand for highly portable, rugged, and robust systems for use as multimedia entertainment, storage systems for PDA""S, cell phones, electronic books, and other systems. One of the more promising technologies for rugged, removable, and portable data storage is WORM (write once read many) optical disk drives.
One of the important factors affecting design of an optical system (such as that utilized in a WORM drive) is the optical components utilized in the system and the control of actuators utilized to control the optical system on the disk. The optical system typically includes a laser or other optical source, focusing lenses, reflectors, optical detectors, and other components. Although a wide variety of systems have been used or proposed, typical previous systems have used optical components that were sufficiently large and/or massive that functions such as focus and/or tracking were performed by moving components of the optical system. For example, some systems move the objective lens (e.g. for focus) relative to the laser or other light source. It was generally believed that the relatively large size of the optical components was related to the spot size, which in turn was substantially dictated by designs in which the data layer of a disk was significantly spaced from the physical surface of the disk. A typical optical path, then, passed through a disk substrate, or some other portion of the disk, typically passing through a substantial distance of the disk thickness, such as about 0.6 mm or more, before reaching a data layer.
Regardless of the cause being provided for relative movement between optical components, such an approach, while perhaps useful for accommodating relatively large or massive components, presents certain disadvantages for more compact usage. These disadvantages include a requirement for large form factors, the cost associated with establishing and maintaining optical alignment between components which must be made moveable with respect to one another, and the power required to perform operations on more massive drive components. Such alignment often involves manual and/or individual alignment or adjustment procedures which can undesirably increase manufacturing or fabrication costs for a reader/writer, as well as contributing to costs of design, maintenance, repair, and the like.
Many early optical disks and other optical storage systems provided relatively large format read/write devices including, for example, devices for use in connection with 12 inch (or larger) diameter disks. As optical storage technologies have developed, however, there has been increasing attention toward providing feasible and practical systems which are of relatively smaller size. Generally, a practical read/write device must accommodate numerous items within its form factor, including the media, media cartridge (if any), media spin motor, power supply and/or conditioning, signal processing, focus, tracking or other servo electronics, and components associated or affecting the laser or light beam optics. Accordingly, in order to facilitate a relatively small form-factor, an optical head occupying small volume is desirable. In particular, it is desirable that the optical head have a small dimension in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the spinning media. Additionally, a smaller, more compact, optical head provides numerous specific problems for electronics designed to control the position and focus of the optical head.
Additionally, although larger home systems have little concern regarding power usage, portable personal systems should be low power devices. Therefore, it is also important to have a system that conserves power (e.g., by optically overfilling lenses) in both the optical system and the electronic controlling system.
Therefore, there is a need for an optical head and optical media drive system with a small form factor and, in addition, a servo system for controlling the optical head and optical drive system so that data can be reliably read from and written to the optical media.
In accordance with the present invention, a boundary crossing detector in a tracking and focus servo system of an optical disk drive is presented. The optical disk drive system includes a spin motor on which an optical media is positioned, an optical pick-up unit positioned relative to the optical media, an actuator arm that controls the position of the optical pick-up unit, and a control system for controlling the spin motor, the actuator arm, and the laser. The control system can include a read/write channel coupled to provide control signals to a servo system.
The optical media can be a relatively small-sized disk with readable data present on the surface of the disk. Furthermore, the optical disk may have a pre-mastered portion and a writeable portion. The pre-mastered portion is formed when the disk is manufactured and contains readable data such as, for example, audio, video, text or any other data that a content provider may wish to include on the disk. The writeable portion is left blank and can be written by the disk drive to contain user information (e.g., user notes, interactive status (for example in video games), or other information that the drive or user may write to the disk). Because there may be optical differences, for example in reflectivity, and in the data storage and addressing protocols between the pre-mastered portion of the disk and the writable portion of the disk, a control system according to the present invention may have different operating parameters in the different areas of the disk.
The optical pick-up unit can includes a light source, reflectors, lenses, and detectors for directing light onto the optical media. The detectors can include laser power feed-back detectors as well as data detectors for reading data from the optical media. The optical pick-up unit can be mechanically mounted on the actuator arm. The actuator arm includes a tracking actuator for controlling lateral movement across the optical media and a focus actuator for controlling the position of the optical pick-up unit above the optical medium. The tracking and focus actuators of the optical pick-up unit are controlled by the controller.
The servo system includes various servo loops for controlling the operation of aspects of the optical disk drive, for example the spin motor, the optical pick-up unit, and the controller. The servo loops, for example, can include combinations of a tracking servo loop and a focus servo loop.
A method of detecting a boundary crossing between a first media type and a second media type of an optical media in an optical disk drive according to the present invention includes allowing an optical pick-up unit to move across the optical media; calculating a peak-to-peak value of a tracking error signal; and indicating the boundary crossing when the peak-to-peak value changes by a threshold value. In some embodiments, the optical pick-up unit is allowed to move across the optical media when the tracking servo system is open or when a multi-track seek operation is being performed. In some embodiments, the peak-to-peak value of the tracking error signal is calculated from multi-point averaged values of the minimum and maximum of the tracking error signal.
The peak-to-peak values of the tracking error signals at two separate cycles are compared. In some embodiments, the two cycles are separated by two cycles (i.e., cycle k and cycle k+2, where k is an arbitrary integer). In some embodiments, peak-to-peak values in any two cycles can be compared. In some embodiments, the threshold value is about 0.25 of the peak-to-peak value of the first cycle. The threshold value, however, can be set higher or lower. If set too high, the optical drive may miss boundary crossings. Alternatively, if set too low the optical drive may erroneously detect boundary crossings.
In some embodiments, a default value for the threshold is utilized when an optical media is first inserted into the optical disk drive. Subsequently, an average threshold is utilized. The average threshold can be calculated by averaging the peak-to-peak value of the tracking error signal as the boundary is being crossed.
In some embodiments, when a boundary crossing is detected operating parameters of the optical disk drive are replaced with the operating parameters appropriate for the new media type. The operating parameters that are replaced can include one or more of a focus error signal offset, a focus error signal gain, a tracking error signal offset, a tracking error signal gain, a focus loop gain, a tracking loop gain, and a cross-talk parameter.
An optical disk drive according to the present invention includes an optical pick-up unit; an analog processor coupled to receive signals from detectors in the optical pick-up unit and provide digital signals; at least one processor coupled to receive the digital signals, the at least one processor calculating a control signal; and a driver coupled to control a position of the optical pick-up unit in response to the control signal. The at least one processor executes an algorithm that allows the optical pick-up unit to move across an optical media in the optical disk drive, calculates a peak-to-peak value of a tracking error signal, which is calculated from the digital signals, and indicates the boundary crossing when the peak-to-peak value changes by a threshold value.
These and other embodiments of the invention are further described below with respect to the following figures.